Door fastener



Sept 30, l930.

W H. MOODY DOOR FASTENER 3 Sheets-Sheet l J l 61ml, 1 z5 i5 o i f@ F@ 4" 9 50 Pig 5 19 a 4f "55 46p 52 s- Z0 l 0 Wfl ATTORNE @la l Sept. 30, 1930.

W. H. MOODY DOOR FASTENER Filed Aug. 25. 1928 5 sheets-'sheet 2 uullllulIIIIIIIHHIII "I IHHIIII l NUIIIIIIII'III I Jig@ M u f y lwmullllgzllml #Sgm NVENTOR SePt- 30,1930. Y w. H. MOODY 1,777,176

DOOR FASTENER Filed Aug. 25, 1928 5 Sheets-Shea?l 5 Z7 ya l Z6 "I @d I Y In* 55 T I 6 .aan L" NVENTOR ATTOR NEY Patented Sept. 30, 1930 UNET WINFIELD H. MCODY, OF BALTMORE, MARYLAND DGOR FASTENER Application led'Augnst 25, 1328. Serial No. 302,016.

This invention relates to door fasteners especially adapted for use upon refrigerator or refrigerating machine doors, an bject being to provide means for securely holding a door in closed and substantially airtight condition, the invention'being especially applicable to refrigerators or refrigerating machines of a relatively large size.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means of the above character which may be adjusted as required to compensate for wear, so that the fastening means will remain eicient for an indefinite period.

Another cbj ect of the invention is the provision of a door fastener which will operate simultaneously with the closing of the door to hold said door in closed position and overcome danger of the door remaining partly open from rebound, careless handling,

or failure to manually adjust the fastener.

Another obj ect of the invention is the provision of a door fastener which includes latching means duplicated at both ends of the door and operated from an intermediate point, so that the door will be held tightly closed throughout its length, yet may be released by a single operation.

Another object of the invention is the provvision of a door fastener of the above char- 3@ acter which may be operated from either side of the door, so that a person may enter the refrigerator and securely close the door to prevent undue lowering of temperature, and release the fastener from the inner side of the door.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a door fastener which may be used at either the right or left hand edge of a door and thus obviate the necessity of malring separate parts for each edge.

vWith the above and other objects in view, the invention further includes the following novel features and details of construction, to be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of a door 53 equipped with the invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional View taxen substantially on the line 2 2 of Figure 1.v

Figure 8 is a like view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, the door being in closed position.

Figure 4; is a View similar to Figure 3 showine the door partly onen.

Figure 5 is an enlarged section taken substantially on theline 5-5 of Figure 1.

Figure G is a lilre view taken substantially U0 on the line 66 of Figure 1.

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 7-7 of Figure 1.

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken through the upper end of the (3 5 guide rod and showing the manner of attaching this rod to the center plate.

Figure 9 is a section on the line 9 9 of Figure 5.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary section taken Ti) substantially on the line 10-1O ef Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings in detail wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts, the reference character 10 indicates a portion of a refrigerator or re- T5 frigor-ating' machine having' a door 11 to which the invention is shown applied. lt may be here stated that while the invention is shown and described as applied to the door of a refrigerator, it is not the purpose of the S0 present application to limit the invention to this type of container or receptacle, as may be found useful in other connections, the rcfrigerator being illustrated and referred to for the purpose of clearly explaining the 55 construction, operation and advantages of the invention.

The door 11 is hinged along' one edge as shown at 12 and its opposite edge is provided with a fastener or fasteners constituting the present invention. These fasteners include door carried latches 13 and 14, one of which is positioned near the top of the door while the other is located adjacent the. bottom edge of the door. rlhese D; latches each include plates 15 from which extend studs 16 and these studs have mounted thereon sleeves 17.

Extending from and preferably formed integral with the sleeves 17 are oppositely #U0 disposed arms 18 and 19, the arms 18 providing keeper engaging elements which act to hold the door in closed position.

The arms 18 are adapted to be simultaneously operated and for this purpose there is provided an operating handle 20 whose inner end is pivot-ally mounted upon a shaft 21. This shaft extends through a plate 22 upon the outside ot the door and through a plate 23 upon the inside of the door, and secured to this shaft upon the inside of the door is a handle 24, so that the shaft 21 may be rocked from either side of the door.

Pivotally secured to the handle 20 upon a stud 25 is the lower bifurcated end 26 of a rod 27. The upper end 28 of this rod is bent and extends through an opening provided in the end of the arm 19. Also mounted upon the stud 26 between the bifurcated ends of the rod 27 is the upper end 29 of a rod 30. The lower end of this rod is shaped as shown at 31 in Figure 7 of the drawings and extends through an opening 32 provided in the arm 19 of the lower latch 14. The connection between the lower end of the rod 39 and the arm 19 and the connection between the upper end of the rod 27 and the upper arm 19 is identical, so that only the lower connection is illustrated. Y

Pivot-ally attached to the plate 22 as shown at 33 in Figure 8 of the drawings is the upper end of a guide rod 34. The lower end of this rod carries a right angularly disposed foot piece 35 which is provided with an opening 36 for the passage of the rod 30 so that a sliding connection between the rod 34 and the rod 30 is provided. Mounted upon the rod is a coiled spring 37. One end of this spring bears upon the foot piece while the opposite end bears upon a collar 38 which is adjustable upon the rod 30 to regulate the tension of the spring.

By reference to Figure 1 of the drawings it will be seen that by pressing downward upon the outer handle 2O or upward upon the inner handle 24 (Figure 2) the rods 27 and 30 will be moved downward so as to pivotally move the latches 13 and 14 and disenrrage them from their' keepers.

he plate 15 of the upper latch 13 carries a stop 39 which is arranged in the path of the arm 18 to limit movement of this arm upward. The plate 22 carries a stop 40 which limits upward movement of the arm 2O when the latter is released. As the invention is adapted for use at either the right or left hand edge of a door. the plate 15 is provided with an additional stop 41 and the plate 22 is provided with an additional stop 43 for use when the plates are reversed.

The arms 20 and 24 may be adjusted with respect to the shaft 21 by means of set screws 41IL and 41b respectively, and the collar 38 may be adjusted on the rod 30 to regulate the tension of the spring 37 The keepers with which the arms 18 and 19 engage are indicated at 44 and 45. The keeper 44 is adapted for engagement by the upper latch 13 and the keeper 45 is for the lower latch.

Each of these keepers comprises a shank 46 which is adapted to extend outward at right angles from the face of the doorway adjacent the door. This shank enters a socket 47 provided in a member 48 which is carried by and extends from an attaching plate 49. Extending from the outer end of thel shank 46 is a keeper arm 60 whose inner face 51 is upwardly and outwardly inclined.

The arms 18 of the latches are adapted to engage this inclined face 51 of the keeper arms so that when the arms 18 move downward they will ride alongl this inclined tace and force the door inward to a tightly closed position.

In order to maintain the arms properly spaced from the outer face of the refrigerator and to compensate for wear, the shanks 46 are adjustably spaced from the outer face of the` refrigerator through the medium of adjust-ing screws 52. These screws pass through eyes 53 carried by the keepers and have threaded engagement with the door frame adjacent the door. Adjusti'nent of the screws 52 will regulate the posi- I tions of the shanks 46 within the sockets 47 andy these shanks are held in adjusted position by means of set screws 54.

As thus far described, the invention pro,-

vides a fastener which may be conveniently A operated to force the door inward and hold the same in tightly closed position and readily released.

Frequently a person entering a refrigerator will either neglectto tightly close the door, or the door will rebound to an open position. This latter is also true when a person closes the door in a careless manner from the outside. The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing for automatically latching the door at the instant the door is closed. For this purpose, the upper latch 13 carries spaced ears and pivotally secured between these ears as shown at 56 is the innei end of a trigger 57. This trigger is provided with an opening 58 which receives the sleeve 17. As the trigger is carried by the arm 19 of the upper latch, when this arm is lowered and the arm 18 is raised, the outer end of the trigger will move inward under the action of a spring 58 shown in Figure 3 of the drawings. This inward movement will position the trigger upon a relatively broad shoulder 59 provided upon a lug 60 which extends outward from the plate 15, the shoulder 59 being relatively wide to prevent undue wear. When the trigger is engaged with the shoulder 59, the latches 1.3 and 14 are in raised or released position and the door may be freely opened.

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-When the door is closed, the trigger 59 strikes a trip arm 61 which extends upward from the keeper arm of the upper keeper 44. The arm 61 is so spaced from the arm 50 that it will be engaged by the trigger after the latch arms 18 pass the upper ends of the inclined faces of the keeper arms 50 and when this engagement occurs, the trigger will be disengaged from the lug so that the latch arms 18 will drop behind the keeper arms 50 and the spring 37 will force these arms downward and tightly close the door.

F rom the foregoing description and ac companying drawings it will be seen that when the door is closed from the outside 0f the refrigerator, the trigger 58 will strike the trip arm 61 so as to latch the door in the manner just stated, the latching action occurring simultaneous with the closing action of the door. This same action will also occur when the door is closed kfrom the inside of the refrigerator so that the door will not be left temporarily open while a person is upon the inside selecting an article.

The handle 24 upon the inside of the door is so positioned that a person having both of his hands occupied as in carrying heavy articles, may raise the arm 24 upward With his knee and open the door.

rIhe invention is susceptible of various changes in its form, proportions and minor details of construction and the right is herein reserved to make such changes as properly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention what is claimed is: f

1. In a door fastener, a keeper adapted to be mounted adjacent the door, a door carried device including a vertically movable pivotally mounted latch normally arranged to engage the keeper, means to move the latch out of the path of the keeper to release the door, a trigger pivotally secured and movable relatively with respect to the latch, means engaged by the trigger to hold the latch in raised position to permit the door to be opened or closed, and means also engaged by the trigger to guide the latter and permit the latch to return to keeper engaging position simultaneously with the closing of the door.

2. In a door fastener, a keeper adapted to be mounted adjacent the door, a door carried device including a latch normally arranged to engage the keeper, means to move the latch out of the path of the keeper to release the door, a trigger carried by and movable laterally with respect to the latch, means engaged by the trigger to hold the latch in door re leased position to permit the door to be opened or closed, and means also engaged by the trigger to actuate the latter and permit the latch to return to keeper engaging position simultaneously with the closing of the door.

3. In a door fastener, a keeper adapted to be mounted adjacent the door, a door carried device including a latch normally arranged to engage the keeper, means to move the latch out of the path of the keeper to release the door, a spring influenced trigger pivotally secured to and movable independently of and with the latch, means engaged by the trigger to hold the latch in door released position to permit the door to be opened or closed, and means also engaged by the trigger to actuate the latter and permit the latch to return to keeper engaging position simultaneously with the closing of the door.

4:. In ay door fastener, a keeper adapted to be mounted adjacent the door, a door carried device including a spring influenced pivotally movable latch normally arranged to engage the keeper, means to move the latch out of the path of the keeper to release the door, means to hold the latch in released position to permit the door to be opened or closed, a spring iniiuenced trigger pivotally mounted upon and carried by the latch, and means arranged in the path of the trigger to engage said. trigger and release the latch when the door is moved to closed position.

5. In a door fastener, a keeper embodying a shank adapted to extend outwardly at rightangles from a doorway adjacent a` door, an arm extending from the shank and having an inclined inner face spaced from the .face of the doorway, a latch adapted to be mounted upon a door to engage the inner face of the arm, means to actuate the latch and move the latter into and out of such engagement, and means to mount the keeper to adjustably space the arm from the adjacent face of the doorway.

6. In a door fastener, a keeper embodying a shank, an arm extending from the shank and having an inclined inner face, a latch adapted to be mounted upon a door to engage the inclined face of the arm, means to ,hold the latch in position to prevent such engagement, and means located in the path of the latch holding means to release said latch.

7. In a door fastener, a keeper en'ibodying a shank, an arm extending from the shank and having an inclined inner face, a latch adapted to be mounted upon a door to engage the inclined face of the arm, means to hold the latch in position to prevent such engagement, and a trip arm extending from the keep` er above the keeper arm and in the path of the latch holding means to actuate the latter and release the latch. y

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

IVINFIELD H. MOODY. 

